People We Knew
by XiaoXiao666
Summary: Ten Years Ago, Kevin McCormick ran away from home. Ten years. A lot can change in that time. Technology, countries, people... Now, when the US is gripped in a civil war, Kevin, now a soldier of the US military, is sent back to the place he thought he'd never return to. There, he discovers the fate of his family. Cover by Vera Chan15.
1. Meeting Old and New

Ten years. Ten years since Kevin McCormick threw it all away and ran away from home, from South Park. Ten years since he ran from his life of drinking, frozen waffles and neglectful parents. Now, things were better, or so Kevin told himself. Sure, he never really stopped drinking, but things went up. After he was picked up by the Denver police, he refused to give them the name of his parents and eventually they gave up and put him in a foster home. Within a year, he had been fostered and had got a decent education. At 18, he had joined the United States Military and now, when the US had descended into civil war, he had been sent back, back to the place he had almost forgotten.

He had been briefed about the current situation in South Park before they boarded the plane going there. The northern half of the town was controlled by government forces while the south was in rebel hands. The Third Path, as they called themselves. The border between the two was a no-man's-land of ruined buildings with civilians who lived there living a life of running and hiding. It was a cold December night when the hoverplane touched down outside Hells Pass Hospital. As Kevin and the others stepped off the plane, they were greeted by a face that Kevin, despite the years, recognised.

"Ran-Randy Marsh?" he said.

"That's Sergeant Major Marsh to you." Randy said, not recognising him. Kevin hadn't expected him to anyway. He had changed in the past ten years. He had grown taller, obviously, but he had also got cleaner. His hair, which had stuck up messily, was now in clean locks. He had grown stronger too. Kevin sighed as his platoon was guided to the hospital.

"The situation in South Park is grim." Randy said. "A few days ago was the battle for SoDoSoPa. We sent 4 platoons there. 11 people returned."

SoDoSoPa? Wasn't that where...?

"Sir," Kevin said.

"Yes, soldier." Randy replied.

"Do you know what...what happened to the inhabitants in SoDoSoPa?"

"Apart from that they're in the hands of the Third Path, nothing." Randy said.

Kevin cursed inwardly. Looks like his family were prisoners. No, he reminded himself. His family were in Portland. These were the people he had run away from. He refocused on the briefing.

"Sir," one soldier asked.

"Yes, soldier?" Randy said.

"What is the Third Path?"

There was a pause. Everyone looked at the soldier in disbelief, who shrunk back.

"Haven't...haven't you... haven't you seen the news recently?" Randy asked.

"No, uh, I don't watch the news." the soldier said sheepishly.

"Well," Randy said, "the Third Path is a separatist group wanting to change the US. Obviously, you already know that. Anyway, the name comes from the saying 'If there are two paths you don't like, create a third one you do'. Basically, what they're saying is they're taking matters into their own hands. Changing the country."

Randy paused, his hands clenched.

"The forces here are being led by a man named Kenny McCormick. He's very young, only about twenty..."

Kevin didn't hear the rest. He was too shocked. Kenny? Kenny McCormick? Part of him didn't want to believe it, but another said that Randy had said it, it must be true...

Kevin shook his head. Now was not the time.

"The Third Path used to control all the town south of Main street. That changed a week ago when they launched a large assault, breaking through. We tried to hold them off at Bijou Cinema. They broke through within hours. We tried again at Saltcreek Sunbeds and Co. They broke through after only two days. SoDoSoPa was our third attempt. That went just as badly. Tomorrow we'll be sending you off to South Park Morgue. We've held them off there, but I don't know how long that'll last. It's turned into a stalemate. I need all of you to get some rest. We go tomorrow."

Randy turned to walk away and a man with cleanly cut brown hair said, "All new soldiers this way."

Kevin followed the other soldiers through the hospital. Squad by squad, they were assigned to wards to sleep in until finally Kevin was assigned to his area. He dumped his stuff next to his bed. The brown-haired man warned them not to unpack as they'd be leaving the next morning so he took off his outer uniform before laying down.

In the ward, the other soldiers were all talking. Some had already gone to sleep, others reading books. Kevin lay awake, thinking about what Randy had said earlier. Kenny? How could he? He knew they were worse of but really? Betray the government, the country? Commit treason? Something in his brain refused to register that as he turned over and drifted off.

The motorcade of jeeps drove into the town in the early hours of the morning. Kevin had been woken up and been made to eat before they had been briefed and had geared up to go. Now, Kevin got his first good look at the town after his absence.

At first, he thought nothing had changed. Then, he noticed the posters scattered around as they drove through the streets. All of them said the same thing: 'Choose the Third Path' in white on a black background, with a picture of a line on the centre of the paste branching off into three directions with the one on the right in red. He frowned. Suddenly, he was disturbed from his thoughts by the guy next to him.

"Hey," the man said. "You alright?"

"Hm? What, oh, yeah." Kevin said back.

The man nodded. He had a brown stubbly beard and wore an old-looking red jacket which poked out from under his green uniform. He looked very young, around 19.

"My name's Billy." he said. "Billy Turner."

"Kevin," Kevin said, being careful to leave out his surname. If anyone knew he was related to Kenny, who knows how they'd react.

The two sat in silence for a bit.

"I actually used to live here," Billy said. "I actually knew Kenny McCormick! It sounds crazy, but it's true. He was just a normal guy."

If only you knew, Kevin thought.

"Anyway, I guess by doing this we're one step closer to a reunited America." Billy said.

"Yeah, I guess." Kevin said. Suddenly, he perked his head up. Somewhere, he could hear shouting. Suddenly, there was a boom which shook the truck they were in. Kevin stood up to get a look up ahead. His jaw dropped.

Up ahead, the truck in front had been destroyed. The remains sat burning in the middle of the road, quite effectively blocking it. Soldiers were running to the wreckage, trying to salvage anything or anyone from the wreck.

"Out, everyone out." the driver said.

Kevin and Billy stood up and joined the other soldiers getting out the bus. Behind them, the other cars in the motorcade had stopped and their occupants had got out too. Their was a general hubbub of noise in the air. Kevin picked up snippets of conversation as he walked through the crowd towards the wreck of the first truck.

"-new rebel weapons-"

"-how many were in that thing?-"

"-must be from the Central Union-"

Kevin frowned. The Central Union was the USA's southern neighbour. It had been formed after Mexico and its small neighbours had united. They had then invaded Panama, gaining access to the Panama Canal and had began waging a war with Colombia which continued up to the present. Now, it was supporting the Third Path in their civil war with America.

Someone had got hold of a hose and had connected it to a hydrant. The wreck was now being hosed down by the soldiers and a few had already started clambering among the wreck, looking for anyone who might of, by some miracle, survived.

"This way!" someone was shouting now. "The morgue isn't too far now."

Kevin followed the soldiers now walking down the road, glancing back at the wreckage of the truck, where the searchers had gotten back out, sooty-faced and teary-eyed.

A bit later, Kevin and the other soldiers reached the Morgue. By now, Kevin had definitely seen changes. A few of the buildings here were half-destroyed and rubble littered the streets. The few civilians Kevin had seen were being ushered away by soldiers. They all wore tattered clothes and had scared, fearful looks in their eyes.

Once or twice, Kevin thought he saw someone he vaguely recognised. At one point, a jittery twenty-year old with a tuft of blonde hair had come running past them, screaming "I don't wanna get grounded!" being pursued by a fifty-year-old man with a whip. A few of the soldiers had laughed, others murmured curiously. Every so often, Billy would see something and gasp. Kevin felt bad. How much had he missed happen hear? No, he thought, more forcibly this time. Him running had been for the better.

The morgue was pretty run down. Craters marked the ground and many graves had been obliterated or smashed. Kevin, Billy and the soldiers were led into one of the neighbouring buildings, where they were shown to rooms. A soldier came and told them there was a briefing in ten minutes. Kevin unpacked his things, then went to the window and looked out as the other soldiers in the room talked or unpacked.

The skyline of South Park was a ruined one. Smoke drifted into the sky in several places. From somewhere was the sound of gunfire, but more uniform and not as sporadic as a gunfight. Probably target practice. From here, Kevin could see the Main Street where he could make out the red-cladded figures if the Third Path.

Kevin went back to his bunk as a soldier came into the room and told them to come to the Morgue.

 **Greetings. This is my first story which isn't just a Oneshot, apart from that one other story...*cough* Simpsons zombies *cough*. Probably won't have regular updates. But I'll try. Comments and criticism are appreciated.**


	2. The Battle of Stark's Pond

Kevin filed into the Morgue with the other soldiers. The preservation equipment had been pushed to the sides of the room and a large table with a map of the town on it had been put in the centre. At the table two men sat. One of them had a blonde beard and wore a red cap. The other looked quite unique, as in the fact that his hair had been dyed purple. He had a scar down his face and had two medals pinned on his uniform, which was unusual for the situation currently happening. As the last men started filing in, the blonde man began.

"Hello everyone. As you all know, the situation here is getting pretty bleak. The rebels seem to be advancing with nothing stopping them. However, we have devised a plan which should stop all that."

"We are planning" the purple-haired man said, "a large assault on Stark's Pond."

Immediately, there was an outbreak of talking.

"Quiet please." the bearded-man said.

"Quiet."

Suddenly, the purple-haired man shouted "Quiet!"

The noise died down immediately.

"Now some of you may wonder, why Stark's Pond?" the bearded man said. "Stark's Pond holds a cultural significance to the town, and the rebels. We take it and we can crush their moral. Also, capturing the pond would allow us to attack the rebels from the side, and fight them on two fronts."

A soldier raised their hand.

"Speak, soldier" the bearded man said.

"Sir, Stark's Pond offers no protection. It would be suicide fighting on it."

The purple-haired man turned to behind him. He looked at a man holding a large metal frame in the shape of the a circle. The man pressed a remote in his hand and a glowing beam of yellow energy appeared in the frame. There was a collective intake of breath.

"New technology developed from Silicon Valley." the bearded man said. "These will offer protection and should incinerate bullets that pass through it. They work on a 1 in 200 success rate."

"I don't like those odds." a soldier near Kevin muttered.

It's December and Stark's Pond has frozen over. We'll be able to just charge across!" the bearded man said enthusiastically. The purple-haired man looked at him with a faint look of irritation. He spoke.

"We attack at noon today-"

There was an uproar.

"This is outrageous!" the soldier who had muttered earlier exclaimed. "We can't prepare that soon!"

"Quiet! Quiet!" the purple-haired man shouted.

Eventually, the soldiers quietened down. There were still a few discontented mutters.

"Time is key. We don't know when the Third Path may attack. They bombed the reinforcement convoy only half an hour ago. They killed eight men and destroyed a truck. We need to leave as soon as possible. All soldiers must return to their respective quarters were they will be directed to the kitting area. Dismissed."

Immediately, there was a babble of noise. Soldiers started milling to the exits and Kevin joined the crowd. Some soldiers next to him were talking and one of them tapped Kevin on the shoulder.

"You. Wasn't that purple guy a little annoyed at the bearded man or what?"

"Are you kidding?" another soldier on the other side of Kevin exclaimed. "That was Lieutenant Major Richards! He fought in the Afghan War! He commanded forces in the invasion of North Korea! He's legendary!"

"And the purple guy?" the other soldier asked.

"He was the purple guy!" the second soldier exclaimed. "The one with the beard was his second-in-command Williamson."

The other two soldiers accompanied Kevin to his, and evidently their, quarters. At one point, they introduced themselves as Tait and Seth. Tait was 21 with a mess of blonde curls while Matthias was 23 with dark brown hair which stood up at the front. The three, and Billy who Kevin had located, kitted up and climbed onto one of the trucks.

As the motorcade set off, Kevin went over the checks on his gun before joining in the conversation with the rest of the truck.

"So, what d'you think about the civil war?" Tait asked Billy.

"To be perfectly frank, I think it's nonsense." Billy said. "President Carlson, to be perfectly honest is batty. He only rose to political power a few years ago. Before that, he was a nobody."

"Bit like President Garrison." a soldier joined in. "Didn't he used to live here?"

"Yep." Billy said. "He taught the third grade."

Billy shuddered.

"Never liked that class. There was this one kid, really fat, who once handcuffed me by the ankle to the flag pole and gave me a saw, then told me he had poisoned my lunch milk and the only way to get to the antidote was to saw my leg off."

"Woah!" Seth exclaimed.

"Spent about a fortnight in hospital." Billy said.

"I really think that we should just make peace with Canada." Seth said. "I mean, if we stopped being enemies with them, we'd gain their support, and most of the Commonwealth Union's. That would win us the war."

"And plunge the world into a Third World War." the other soldier said. "If the Union joined the war, the Central Union would call on its allies in Africa. That would get Russia involved, therefore involving BRICS and dooming us all."

"Just a load of chaos." Billy said, shaking his head.

The soldiers all sat in silence for a bit. After ten minutes, the driver of the truck called back to them "Check your equipment, we're nearing the zone."

The sound of guns could be heard from ahead. Kevin checked his gun again and then stood up, readying himself to leave the truck.

"Stick with us, alright?" Seth said to Kevin.

"Out out out!" the driver shouted. Suddenly, there was the sound of smashing glass as a bullet, whether intentional or not, shattered the windscreen and hit the driver. He fumbled at his neck as Kevin was shoved out of the truck and landed on the grass of Stark's Pond. He immediately took out his shield, from the hook on the side, and turned it on. A glowing projection appeared with crackled and fizzed.

"Come on!" a soldier cried.

Kevin ran forward, jumping over a body which had evidently been the 1 in the 1 in 200 success rate. He slowed down slightly as he neared the pond, and gasped.

Richards had forgotten one thing. Ice melted. The heat given off by the shields was melting the ice. There were already several holes in the ice where people had evidently gone through. Kevin, still in his train of thought, was roughly shoved aside by a soldier who ran forward. Kevin realised it was Billy.

"Wait! Billy!" he shouted, running forward. Suddenly, a cry made him turn around.

Seth had gone through the ice. The only thing that had stopped him from being dragged down was grabbing Tait's leg, who, when he had gone over, had rammed his shield into the ice, creating a hold.

Kevin ran back to them, shield up and absorbing the bullets firing their way from where the rebels were shooting at from behind large wooden walls. He stooped down and took Seth's hand. Then, he yanked upwards. A bullet whizzed dangerously past his ear. He managed to haul Seth out, who collapsed onto the ice, soaked and shivering.

"Get up, get up." Kevin urged.

Seth got to his feet and fumbled for his gun, before swearing.

"Shit! I dropped the gun and shield when I fell!"

Kevin made a quick decision.

"Stay behind me and Tait. If one of us is killed, take our weapons."

Seth's eyes widened.

"Who says one of you'll be killed?!"

"Just in case," Kevin said. He turned in time to stop a bullet speeding towards him. He ran forward and Tait followed, Seth bringing up the rear. Kevin jumped over thin-looking ice and Tait and Seth did the same. Further forward, the soldiers were storming the rebel's makeshift fortress. At that moment, Kevin heard a voice which made him stop in his tracks. It was deeper than he remembered, but who really forgets the sound of a relative?

Tait crashed into him, knocking him to the ground but not before he heard Kenny McCormick shout "Fall back! Fall back to the town!"

After that, he was blinded by the snow that had settled onto the ice and the sensation of a broken nose.

 **Sorry if the battle wasn't descriptive enough. I'm not really good at that. Will try to have another chapter up by Friday. Maybe next Saturday.**


	3. Going Downtown

"Kevin."

The room was deserted save for the two soldiers sitting on one of the beds. Everyone else was either fighting to control Stark's Pond, training or hanging out in the government-controlled part of town.

"Kevin."

Kevin sat on the bed, staring off into space. Billy waved a hand in front of him.

"Hey, speak."

"Hm, what?" Kevin said.

Billy frowned.

"Is everything alright? After the fight at Stark's Pond yesterday you've been all weird. What's up?" he asked.

"No, no, I'm fine." Kevin said, waving him off. "I'm fine. Just thinking.

Billy raised his eyebrow.

"Really? Because you've been thinking in this exact same spot for the past hour."

"What!?" Kevin exclaimed, jumping off the bed in a panic.

"I've actually only just come back from the Raisins place a few minutes away." Billy continued. "I came back and you were just staring at the wall. Kinda creepy."

Kevin walked to the window, looking outside. The sun was high in the cloudless sky, which still managed to look dreary with all the smoke in the sky.

"You should totally come to Raisins by the way." Billy said. "Great wings and the waitresses are as hot as the food."

Kevin briefly considered this.

"Yeah, sure." he agreed. "What time is it?"

"Half one," Billy said.

"Lunchtime," Kevin said, walking to the door of the room. He looked back and saw Billy looking at him, puzzled.

"Where are you going?" Billy asked.

"Raisins."

"I've already eaten mate. I'll go do some training or something."

Kevin shrugged.

"Suite yourself. See you then."

He walked down the corridor of the building and down the stairs. He made his way through the living room and emerged onto the street. The morgue looked over the surrounding area. Soldiers walked up and down the street, some marching, others just idly walking. Kevin set off at a walking pace down the road. Then, it hit him. He didn't actually know where Raisins was. He tapped a passing soldier on the shoulder.

"Excuse me, d'you know where Raisins is?" he asked.

"Oh, yeah." the soldier said. "Two streets away. Turn left at the end of this one, then right at the end of that one. It's on the right."

Kevin thanked the soldier then continued on down the street. He turned left at the end and narrowly avoided being hit by an armoured car which drove past. He stuck up his finger at it then walked down the second street. He passed a building which had collapsed partially. A couple of soldiers were clearing rubble. He stood and watched them for a bit then walked to the end of the street where he turned right. He spotted the Raisins restaurant and crossed the road, running the last bit to avoid being hit by a civilian car. The driver, a man in a blue chullo hat, stuck up his finger while the person in the passenger seat, who had wild, blonde hair, shrieked. Kevin watched them drive away, thinking he could remember them from somewhere. He shook the thought out his mind and entered the restaurant. He looked around and spotted Seth and Tait sitting at the back. He walked over to them. Seth spotted him and waved him over. He pulled up a chair and sat down.

"Where've you been all day?" Seth asked as Tait wolf-whistled to a waitress nearby.

"Just thinking." Kevin said.

"Took a while to do that." Seth said. "Hey, have you tried the wings here. Flipping delicious!"

He looked around.

"Could say the same thing about the woman," he added as a waitress came over.

"Alright turds, take your orders."

Kevin spun around in his chair so fast it startled Tait, who jumped backwards. The waitress seemed unfazed, however. Kevin rapidly searched his memory for who that voice belonged to...

"Hey, I'm talking to you, turd!"

Kevin gasped. It was the girl who he had thought about everyday since he had run away, the girl he had said a tearful goodbye to before he left.

It was Shelly Marsh.

"Just order! I don't have all day."

"I'll have the, uh," Kevin said, searching Shelley's face for any sign of recognition. She no longer wore her headgear and her hair hung down to her shoulders. Even now, he felt his heart flutter in his chest.

"Uh..." he continued.

"I'll have the chicken wings basket," Seth said, butting in, "with the vanilla ice cream shake and my friend here,"he said, pointing to Tait, "will have the wings basket and a Moka Cola."

Shelly wrote it down.

"And you turd?" she said, turning to Kevin.

"Uh, the...the basket?" he said.

"It's not a trick question, dumbass," she said. "Anything to drink with that?"

"Uh, Cola," he said, more quickly this time.

Shelly wrote it down, then walked off.

"What's up with you?" Seth asked. "She isn't that good-looking."

"Just, just didn't know what to order, that's all." Kevin said.

The three idly chatted for a bit, until their orders came. As they ate, Kevin kept looking over at where Shelly would be, taking orders from around the room. Eventually, Seth tapped him on the shoulder.

"Oi, your fries are going cold." he said.

"They were already cold." Kevin replied.

"What I mean is, are you gonna eat them or not?" Seth asked.

"No, you can have them." Kevin said, looking back over to where Shelly was talking to a man who looked quite drunk. As Seth continued to talk to him, he watched the man slink an arm around Shelley's waist, pulling her closer. Shelly resisted but the man pulled forcibly. Kevin stood up.

"Hey!" he shouted. "Leave her alone!"

The man turned to look at him and in that moment Shelly socked him him the face. He yelled and let go as she pulled away. Kevin suddenly noticed everyone was looking at him and he coughed awkwardly.

"Uh, excuse me." he said.

"He walked quickly to the exit and walked down the road. However, he stopped when he heard someone calling out.

"Stop! Wait!"

He turned around and saw Shelly running after him. He felt his heart jump. Shelly ran up to him and looked at him, a mixture of happiness and disbelief on her expression.

"K-Kevin?" she said.

Suddenly, there was the sound of a siren and Kevin and Shelly looked around to where sirens were blaring.

"Bombing attack!" Shelly said. "Follow me! Hurry!"

Kevin ran after Shelly, who took off as the first explosions sounded.

 **There! See! Saturday! I published on time! There's a first time for everything** **after all! Anyway, next chapter around...next Saturday? I dunno, hopefully.**


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